And, as expected, a lot of people aren't happy.From LGP to commentorblog and back, frustration has set in.

Hey man, that's just the internet.

Imagine if someone ran a blog that focused on what you do for a living.You wake up late for work one morning and then make a typo in a big-time memo.All of a sudden, your followers want your girlfriend to break up with youand want your boss to fire you.

Everyone is up in arms about everything that has been going down.No one feels worse about this than the Pens themselves.

People want to take a dump on the Pens, as if the Pens aren't trying their hardest to win.

Bottom line, huge next couple of games for the Pens.Nothing in November should be classified must-win.But it is pretty important.

A lot of people think Michel Therrien should get whacked.Who knows. That is for King Shero to decide.

Everyone needs to start stepping up.And that includes all of us.

Make some changes. Try to wear a lucky shirt. Rearrange some furniture.Switch WWGRD wristbands.We all need to spark something.Because, in the end, we're all we got.

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AFTERMATHBLOG

The reason we started this blog was because we were really fed up with the negative spin that local sports writers and broadcasters were putting on the Pens.

Writers didn't really have a chance last season to put negative spins on everything since the Pens were exceeding all expectations.

But this season...oh man.It's open season on everything Penguins.

How can we, as fans, take a writer seriously when he goes from praising a team after one game to kicking them when they're down after another game?

Saturday night, the Kings were down 4-0 with 10 minutes left in the third.No problem. [ Yahoo Recap ]

Jeremy Roenick joined the 500-goal club with the worst goal in history.

The Coyotes are terrible.

........................................

Ron Francis is going into the Hall of Fame on Monday.

Scott Burnside went down the list, updating people on what Messier, Francis, MacInnis and Scott Stevens have been up to. Solid stuff. [ ESPN ]

But scratch your head at this sentence:

Francis was among the first of his generation to chart this path. Last season, he ran into Yzerman on the road. They chatted a bit, old Central Division foes whose teams often went toe to toe in the playoffs, whose careers crisscrossed a hundred times, maybe more.

a) Francis never played in a Central Division.b) Francis never played in the Western Conference/Campbell Conference.c) Francis never played in the Red Wings' division.

It is excruciating to watch the Pens so soundly beaten as they have been the last three games. In situations like this, more than enough blame is thrown around: i.e., Therrien needs to go, Fleury is more of a liability than an asset, Recchi is far past his prime, etc. It’s too much to expect that the Pittsburgh media will be anything but fair-weather friends for the Penguins. Even in the best of times, a story on Roethlisberger’s choice of shampoo will take precedence over any and all Penguin news.

That said, we, the Penguin faithful, love the game of hockey and so we acknowledge our team’s struggles. We worry about goaltending. We see that there is not enough consistent production from lines 2, 3, and 4. We shake our heads over the unnecessary penalties and each ineffective power play.

But -

We couldn’t stop supporting our team any more than we could stop breathing. We’ll endure the media snarking and sniping as we always have and accept that we’ll always be the sports fan minority in this city. We will watch and attend the games, heart-wrenching though they may be. We will cheer for our team in good and bad...because they are our Boys.

The Pens dont need to make any moves yet, they just need to get a fire burning. Someone, like Army or Ruutu, needs to get the troops fired up on nights where the fire just isn't there. I hate to say it this way, but someone on this team needs to step up and play like Sean Avery (minus the tampon) go out there piss people off...something to get some passion going...too many guys are just punching the clock right now.

I'm a faithful reader of this blog, despite the fact that I'm first and foremost a Sabres fan *gasp*. The Pens are quite a team to watch, though, and if you like the style the Sabres play (when they're playing it), then you have to like the Pens.

Anyhoo, there is a TON of Sabres bashing going on in the message boards around Buffalo, much like there is around Pittsburgh.

Seriously, people? Pens fans have Crosby and Malkin to watch every day. Sabres fans have Vanek and Miller. I know that both teams are struggling, but they're both young. It happens.

True fans believe in their team as long as the team is TRYING to win, which the Pens and Sabres obviously are. Sheesh.

We're 20% of the way through the season. Writing anyone off or claiming anyone as "the beasts of the east" at this point (as some Flyer fans have done) is kind of like saying a team is Super Bowl bound after Week Four. Not even Steeler fans are that irrational.

I think part of this season's lull is that the young guys aren't having as much fun as they did last year. That sounds cliche, and I apologize, but to a man they talked about the joy of being on the ice last year and the intensity followed suit. I don't know if that's a Therrien thing or an expectation thing.

My solution, of course, is to hire Gordon Bombay as an assistant coach. He just has to stand on the bench and scream "MORE FUN!! MORE FUN!!"

Another side note: how many of you, before clicking on the link to the popularity of major local sports franchises that mentioned the Penguins being ranked 20th, immediately sat and thought "There will be a Steelers mention in this Penguins article, or I will slice my jugular"?

Not even getting through the first sentence, and there's a mention. Ugh.

Ok thats it. Enough with the Fleury bashing and yes i am talking to you kristen pb. I am begging the Pens to listen to the fans and start Sabu the whole season because you are not going to win shit with Sabu as your number one goalie. MAF is fucking 23! and goalie is the hardest position to play.

Does this rant make sense? not really but everyone bashing MAF needs to settle the fuck down.

Last season was the worst thing that could have happened to the psyche of the Pens fan and more importantly, to the Pens bandwagon. If this kind of thing were taking place last season, people would just be taking it in stride, but because we had a somewhat ahead of schedule good season, everyone expects greatness.

I've said it before, and it bears repeating. The Pens' record is not what bothers me about the team this season, nor is it the main concern for what seems to be the majority of fans. It's the fact that they're getting embarrassed in many of the losses.

Losing aa game 4-3 or 3-2 should mean you lost a close game. Getting an early 2-0 lead, then blowing it is not a close game. Going down 3-0 is not a close game.

The most exciting games are the ones that go neck-and-neck and you think you just lost it when they score with 6 left in the third, but then you come back to tie it with 1:15 to go only to have them take it back away at the buzzer. It's fun to watch, even if you lose those games, because you write it off as one lucksack goal.

Two seasons ago, the pens were in the basement of the league, but had just about the best attendance at the end of the season because almost every game went like that.

The Pens have lost too many this season where they didn't even look like they had a chance. It hurts the morale of the players. It hurts the morale of the fans. It leaves everyone looking around asking "What went wrong?"

Welcome to NHL hockey. Slumps happen. We don't need a big win like the 5-0 over NJ last week. We need to see 60 minutes of solid hockey. We need to see the little things that get the whole arena on its feet. We need to see BGL to line up the guy who's getting too rough with Sid and smash him into next week. We need a hard-hitting, toe-to-toe 5-4 win.

Didn't get a chance to comment on the Secondary Sid thing yesterday. Every bitching, whining douchbag out there talkin about secondary assists acts as if there's a special set of rules for Croz. Heatley to Spezza to Alfreddson Goal. 2nd assist Heatley. It works the same for every player in the NHL. Has been for as long as I know. And as for him getting assists while not even on the ice?? Not even worth our time.

I've said it before, I am generally against coach-bashing. The guys who get paid to coach in the NHL have more knowledge in their left testicle that I most likely have period.

That being said...what the eff is going on here? This is ludicrous. You have a team that lacks intensity..so let's take one of our most physical forwards and send him to the box. You have a young, struggling goaltender so you yank him quicker than Brad Hamilton...after a game where he gave up 4 goals, 2 of which involved his d-men hanging him out like Pee Wee Herman's junk at that movie theater.

Thenick is a freaking retard. You want us to stop bashing Fleury because he is 23 and goalie is hard? Maybe you should get a clue, bro. We bash Fleury because he has been terrible this year.

If you don't think Sabu can do better, then that's fine with me, I don't think he can either, but don't defend Fleury only because "he is 23 and goalie is the hardest position to play." He is in the NHL. I don't care if he is 14. If he is in the NHL then he should be capable of playing in the NHL.

The Pens need to win games, that's all there is to it. Fleury should NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT be starting simply because he is 23 and goalie is hard. Nor should he start because he is our "goalie of the future" as some cbloggers say. He should start because he gives us the best chance to win TODAY. Not for any other reason.

And if it works out that he is our goalie of the future, but not our best option today, then he can play when he is good enough, but not until then. People are ridiculous when they defend MAF simply because he is our goalie of the future or because he had a good season last year. Judge him based on what he is doing now because that is all that matters.

thenick: What the hell? What part of any of my posts REMOTELY suggests "Fleury bashing"???

How is being "worried about goaltending" bashing Fleury?

How is wondering whether Fleury could stand an 8-man shootout "bashing"? You can't tell me the question is inappropriate.

How is commenting that Fleury seems unsettled and makes some of us nervous "bashing"?

I agree that goaltending is a difficult position that requires a great deal of skill. I have never said otherwise.

Bashing would be something like this: "thenick obviously has the critical reasoning and thinking skills of a turnip."

That's bashing.

The only alternative to the above turnip comment being true is if you somehow missed the "i.e." in my last post. Those statements were meant as examples of the kind of blame game the media (and some hockey fans) start to play when the Pens seem to struggle.

And if you DID miss it, maybe you should read posts more thoroughly before you start arguing with them.

Since we're on the whole Chelcie Ross kick, is it just me or has this whole season so far had somewhat of a "Major League II" feel to it? Not even in the sense of a direct correlation, but just maybe the sense of SOME guys on this team forgetting what got them there last year.

Maybe I've just been drinking too much NyQuil lately.

By the way, if you've got one ounce of ability in your body to think rationally about the way a hockey season works, don't read the first question in Molinari's Q&A today (wondering if/when Mario steps in and fires Shero).

"When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight it's way out of a piss-soaked paper bag." -General Patton

Yeah, they need to let Fleury actually play. It's ridiculous how quickly he gets replaced. If he can't get into a groove it's only because he's not being given a chance to play continually. Practice is not the same as a game and practice will not prepare a goalie like playing in the games will.

kicking asses is overrated.I would rather just have good hockey players and have the league review tapes and properly suspend people.

Funny how in football you don't need to start a fight to defend players. You know why, when a guy steps over the line the league makes a big deal of it and deals out real suspensions. Its not a slap on the wrist with a 1/2 a game suspension.

I hate football but at least they got this right. They protect their stars and don't rely on some goon to do it. Don't see an all-goon team to go with your all-hands team in football.

UFC and hockey are two different sports and should be treated as such.

welcome to following hockey. learn something about the role of physicality in the game. without it, we might as well be curling. you can't rely on the league (imagine Mike Lange: "wow! what a hit - boy I betcha Shero will be filing a fierce protest later tonight!") bullshit. BGL absolutely should have made a statement. it is a necessary factor in the ultimate sporting display: strength and intensity, tempered by grace and finesse. the self-regulating nature of the game only works when the players understand (respect/fear) the varying degrees of intensity meted out and the appropriateness of their application. when the league takes that away (read: the instigator rule) that balance is lost. the Flyers' C learned last night that he has nothing to fear. this will be a factor in future games unless/til it is rectified.

So, my college friend likes and writes fan fiction. If you don't know, fanfic is a ridiculously huge underground community of people who take fictional characters, and write their own stories following unlikely, non-canon plots. my friend claims that is it a rich community, but she also admits that most of them end up being things like harry potter having sex with dumbledore.

I think it is the dumbest thing on the planet.

Anyways, she darkened the universe a bit for me today:

NHL Fanfic. basically, a lot of nhl players in fictional homosexual relationships. all hilarious and also pretty unsettling. "Perchance to Dream"-http://perchancetodream.slashcity.net/id430.htm

You know, if these people want to be creative with their homo stories, that's perfectly alright, but couldn't they at least come up with their own titles and not just re-use song titles from emo bands?